This invention relates generally to a beverage container and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transporting and dispensing a beverage.
Gourmet coffee shops have gained a large share of the beverage market in recent years. These shops typically sell individual servings of upscale brands of coffee. These servings are usually packaged in single serving cups that are suitable for carry-out orders.
These gourmet coffee shops have so changed to public""s taste for coffee that such coffee is now being requested as part of a coffee service for large gatherings such as meetings and the like. One impediment to the serving of gourmet coffee in large gatherings, however, is the absence of a container large enough to efficiently transport and serve the beverage outside of the coffee shop. Therefore, an apparatus that wound allow one to transport and serve more than one cup of coffee at a time would be an important advancement in the art.
This invention is related to an improved beverage package that includes a flaccid beverage bag, a carton around the bag and a fill spout and dispensing device attached to the bag. The improvement involves a carton that includes front and rear panels and first and second spaced-apart side panels which extend between the front and rear panels so as to form a rectangular upper opening bounded by the panels. A spout securing panel with the spout extending therethrough is received in the opening and a cover panel is placed over the securing panel.
In one embodiment of the invention, a cup retention panel that includes a cup retaining projection is attached to and spaced outwardly from the carton. In another embodiment, the front panel includes an aperture and the dispensing device protrudes through the aperture. In a more specific version of such embodiment, the flaccid beverage bag has a top and bottom portion that encloses the bag so as to define an interior and an exterior section. The fill spout is connected in flow communication with the top portion of the beverage bag and the dispensing device, which is connected near the bottom portion of the beverage bag in flow communication with the interior, protrudes through the aperture.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a spring-closed spigot is attached to the dispensing device. In the most preferred embodiment, the carton includes a carrying handle. In still another embodiment, the spout securing panel has a first width, the front and rear panels have a second width, and the second width is greater than the first width. A preferred version of all of the embodiments is one in which the package is collapsible.
The carton used in the invention is formed from a foldable blank that is comprised of a front panel and a rear panel that are substantially parallel to each other. These panels each have an interior and exterior surface and the front panel includes a flap that has a scored aperture at one end while the rear panel includes a scored carry-handle cutout. The blank also has a first side panel and a second side panel which are substantially parallel to each other and extend between the front panel and the rear panel in such a manner that a slit is formed between the rear panel and the second side panel. A cover panel having a latch flap is attached to the front panel and a cup retention panel extends from the rear panel. The cup retention panel includes a lock tab that is suitable for insertion in the slit.
The blank also has a first glue tab that adheres to the interior surface of the rear panel. Such tab extends along the first side panel. Furthermore, a first glue flap extends from the front panel and adheres to a third glue flap that extends from the first side panel. A second glue flap extends from the rear panel and adheres to a fourth glue flap that extends from the second panel. The second and fourth glue flaps interlocking with the first and third glue flaps in order to form the bottom of the carton.
In one embodiment, the carton includes a spout securing panel that has a scored opening that is integrated with and extends from the rear panel. In a specific version of such embodiment, the front and rear panels have a first width, the securing panel has a second width, and the first width is greater than the second width.
In another embodiment, a separate spout securing panel having a scored opening is positioned between the front and rear panels. In still another embodiment, a cup retaining projection is attached to the cup retention panel.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a series of scored lines are positioned between the front panel and the first side panel, the front panel and the second side panel, the second side panel and the rear panel, and the rear panel and the cup retention panel.
The invention also includes a method for transporting and dispensing a beverage in a beverage package that includes a flaccid beverage bag, a carton around the bag and a fill spout and dispensing device. The transporting method is comprised of the steps of: (1) squaring-up a prefolded carton so that the carton has a top portion, a bottom portion, a front panel, a rear panel, and a first and second side panel; (2) positioning a spout securing panel having an opening in the top of the carton; (3) placing the fill spout in the opening in the spout securing panel; (4) installing the dispensing device through an aperture in the front panel; (5) filling the bag through the fill spout with a beverage; (6) inserting a latch flap attached to the top portion in a carry-handle located in the rear panel; (7) carrying the carton via the carry-handle to a desired location, and (8) dispensing the beverage through the dispensing device into a beverage serving apparatus.